With back-to-back 10 win seasons for the first time in school history on the line, the Blue Devils fell to Arizona State 36-31 in the Hyundai Sun Bowl Saturday in El Paso, Texas. Duke’s season ended in bowl heartbreak for the third straight year as the Sun Devils used a 96-yard kickoff return by freshman Kalen Ballage with five minutes left to set up the game-winning touchdown just seconds after Duke took its first lead of the game.
Offense: B
Pass: In the final game of his Blue Devil career, redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone started off cold, misfiring on five of his eight first-quarter passes. After falling behind 20-3 halfway through the second quarter, Boone started to find his playmakers and connected with running back Shaquille Powell on a 14-yard strike as Duke found the end zone for the first time. For all the hype about Arizona State's blitz-heavy defense, Boone used his feet to evade the rush consistently.
Right guard Laken Tomlinson and the line kept Boone upright all afternoon as they managed to avoid giving up a single sack. After a 68-yard Jamison Crowder punt return touchdown near the end of the second quarter, Boone led the Blue Devil offense down the field on the first drive of the second half to the edge of the red zone. On third-and-14, he found wide receiver Issac Blakeney for 21 yards, but Sun Devil defensive back Kweishi Brown jarred the ball loose inside the 10-yard line to thwart a scoring opportunity.
Boone kept up the offensive rhythm on the next two drives, both of which ended in touchdown strikes—one to Johnell Barnes for his first career score and one to Blakeney from Crowder on a trick play on fourth down. The Blue Devils took a 31-30 lead on the Crowder touchdown pass but lost the lead two plays later. Boone—the winningest quarterback in Duke football history—led the team to the red zone one last time but was picked off by Brown in the end zone with less than a minute to play.
Crowder entered the game needing eight receptions to become the all-time ACC receptions leader, but had to settle for seven catches and 102 yards. The receiver finished his career with 283 receptions—tied with former Blue Devil Conner Vernon for the all-time record.
Rush: The Blue Devils picked up 165 yards on the ground on 3.8 yards per carry—led by Powell’s career-high 117. Early on, the line struggled to open up holes for the backs, leading to some three-and-outs, but once the passing game got going, Duke managed to pick up first downs and extend drives. On multiple runs, Powell finished through contact and turned broken runs into first downs. The junior from Las Vegas toted the ball on 29 of Duke's 44 rushes as the Blue Devils seemed to abandon their platoon system given Powell's success.
X’s & O’s: Once Boone found his rhythm, he began to go through his progressions and make the passes he had to complete. He finished 15-for-31 for 193 yards, two scores and a pick. The Blue Devils remained committed to the running game despite the large deficit, and ran the ball successfully up the middle with Powell during the long comeback drives, which took up 13:16 of the fourth quarter.
Defense: B-
Pass: Senior quarterback Taylor Kelly started the game off exactly the opposite of Boone—red-hot. When he wasn’t throwing darts to All-American receiver Jaelen Strong, he was keeping the ball and running it himself. Kelly finished the game 24-for-34 for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The Duke defense kept at it, however.
After Arizona State’s first trip to the end zone resulted in a touchdown, its next two ended in field goals. DeVon Edwards had an impressive strip-sack to stop a Sun Devil drive, but was unable to hold onto the ball after falling on it, a missed opportunity that could’ve been a huge swing in favor of Duke. Kelly started the second half with another touchdown pass but was quiet for the rest of the game as Duke’s defensive line kept up the pressure. Strong—who ended the day with seven catches for 103 yards—didn’t find the end zone Saturday, but Kelly relied on him early and the Blue Devil secondary found it difficult to stop him.
Rush: Duke’s run defense found it difficult to stop running backs D. J. Foster and Demario Richard all day long. The pair racked up 120 yards on the ground—averaging 6.7 yards per carry—and Richard scored all four Sun Devil touchdowns. Kelly also added multiple first-down runs with the read-option and turned several broken plays into big gains for the Sun Devils. Initially, it looked as if the Arizona State line would push around the Blue Devils all day long but things remained competitive, as Duke was able to stuff Arizona State with multiple fourth-down stops.
X’s and O’s: Arizona State entered the game averaging 37.0 points per game, and ended up with 36. Duke did its best to keep the Sun Devils under wraps, but Strong, Richard and Kelly proved too much for the Blue Devils to handle. Duke couldn't force a takeaway—though it had multiple chances with two strip-sacks and an Evrett Edwards pick that was overturned—which would have given the offense some much-needed momentum.
Special Teams: B
Crowder turned in the play of the first half with a 68-yard punt return that cut the deficit to three and was Duke’s second touchdown in two minutes as halftime approached. DeVon Edwards added several long returns in the kickoff game and finished with 135 yards on five returns. Will Monday finished the day with three punts—one of which was a complete shank—for 109 yards, and threw a 30-yard pass to Johnell Barnes on a fake punt to keep alive the drive that gave Duke a 31-30 lead.
However, the play that all Blue Devils will remember was the 96-yard kickoff return by Ballage late in the fourth quarter that came on the heels of Duke's final score. The kick coverage allowed Ballage to find a hole at the game's most critical juncture, and the freshman made Duke pay, taking the ball inside the five-yard-line to set up the game winning touchdown one play later.
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